Cold Weather, Warm Company

Awwww....I loved reading Katie's post today. She had such a picture-perfect, chapter-from-a-book kind of day. It could be called "A Day in the Country" in the book My Life in France. I feel so happy just to get to read about it all, and I can't wait to skype with her to hear about it more. Sounds so lovely, lovely.

Let's see, we did end up going out for a date last night, and it WAS super duper cold! However, that didn't prevent people from walking around without coats, or without zipping their coats, etc. Even little children weren't properly dressed! When did parents stop bundling up their kids at least? At least when it's below zero!

Anyway, we went to Chili's and it was packed (I thought everyone would have stayed home and ordered pizza :) We had a little trouble finding food that wasn't fried on the menu. Jeff's tummy wasn't feeling 100%, so he got some Sprite, and we were not sure exactly what he could eat that wouldn't upset it more. We did the two for $20 deal, and got a cajun chicken pasta and a Mexican-style chicken, rice, and black beans, plus an appetizer of chips, salsa, and guacamole. It was all very good. Oh, and I had blackberry iced tea too. We splurged and got drinks because we had a $25 gift card, and we wanted to use it all up!

Then we went to Marshall's and returned Katie's last pair of remaining shoes, went to Wal-Mart and got a hair magazine, plus some Neutrogena Hand Cream, plus some bins for basement storage. Then to Starbucks by our house for a mocha (me) and a "reduced fat berry coffee cake" (Jeff). It was really nice to sit and chat without any waiters or without worrying about what time they closed (that's why we didn't go to Panera). (That and the fact that we were out of restaurant money in our envelope, so we had to use gift cards. Thanks, Abby, for the Starbucks one for Christmas!) Got home around 10:30pm. It took me a long time to warm up after I went to bed!

Today, Abby took a practice ACT, I made chili, rice, and a cake for Ehne Thau's birthday. Then we went to get them. We found her new house, which is really in a large set of apartments. It's quite a ways from everyone. A mile from MaRian. Everyone is more spread out now, but still manageable. Home, French fries in the oven, and the little girls started playing right away. The bigger girls looked at the hair magazine. Eh Dah Doe wants blonde hair. Why is it that we always want what we can't/don't have? :) There was a section in the magazine about French hair styles. Again with the French stuff! :)

We ate, watched a movie called "Clique" and then the girls played "spoons" for a while before we took them home around 6pm.

We ate leftovers, watched "How to Train Your Dragon" that Abby watched last night, and then Jeff and Abby got it back to the RedBox at 9:00:20pm and it had to be back by 9pm! No fine! Way to go, guys! (It was close because Dad had a little problem putting it back in!)

Ehne Thau liked her birthday presents. I got her an orange coat, tie-dye orange and white jacket, and Uno. I was hoping her favorite color hadn't changed in the last few weeks, or I would have been way off. But it was still ORANGE! I think these girls are so sweet because no one ever says anything about wishing they had what someone else has, and ET said to me later, "I think you should look for something orange for Eh Dah Po because it's her favorite color too." They are just kind and thoughtful and sweet. And always grateful for anything we do for them. And they cleaned up the toys they had gotten out in the basement with one request and in a flash. THAT'S why I can have them over regularly!

They laughed SO hard playing spoons! At first Eh Ler and MaRian just watched, and the first time EhLer played, she grabbed a spoon when she had 2 nines and 2 sixes, and when everyone realized, they laughed and laughed! Such a lovely sound!

I was thinking about how good it is to know people from all over. To travel like Katie is doing, to meet people on campus like Hannah is doing, to have friends from many places. It makes stereotypes like, "All French people are rude," or "All American girls act like the ones in that Clique movie" or whatever the attitude is, so ridiculous! Katie's French family is much like her American one in many ways--many differences to be sure (the country house for one!), but still a family who laughs and jokes and loves one another. So, while there may be rude French people, mean American girls, etc, to categorize a whole nation of people is truly absurd. So that is my big idea for the day.

I have enjoyed Debt-Free U so far and feel very convinced that there are ways to avoid debt for college. Many things he says are things we've talked about before. (I can't remember if I've written this down before or just said it to Jeff, so skip past it if I'm repeating myself.) Like the fact that if one is in debt, one may have to work at a job that is not ideal just because it pays more to pay those student loan payments. This could be a major barrier to pursuing something you love that doesn't pay as well--at least initially. It just makes people start out so far behind. So, I am praying for a job someday soon that can help to pay for my girls' bills as needed, and I'm praying for good jobs for them this summer too! OK, so maybe I've had two big ideas today. That's it for me!

I do need to go to bed so that Abby can finish her blog, and I can get up early to go with them when they do music. Then we get to go have lunch with Hannah! Wow! We're eating out a lot on the generosity of others! Thanks everyone! So, until later, dear reader!